Large-Scale & Well-Known Disruptions by the Entrepreneur

When a disruption emerges as a result of an entrepreneur it can create powerful affects on the economy, the way we do business, and even how we interact with each other.

For large scale success, an entrepreneur must uncover and fill a true gap in the market. If they manage to hit upon a product solution or service which effectively addresses an underlying need and market their innovation well it can spread by word-of-mouth, gaining recognition and reaching around the world.

Inspiration starts close to home

Major game changers tend to start looking for ways to resolve problems that they experience in their own lives.

They use their own negative situation or problem as inspiration and direct creative energy at solving it in the future for both themselves and for others who face similar circumstances.

Perseverance can be worth as much as a good idea

Originality can produce tremendous financial gain. It is worth noting that the individuals behind these great ideas, listed below, did not get it right on the first go. It took several attempts and various reconfigurations before they achieved success.

Persistence, collaboration, and diligent work are keys to producing large scale positive disruption. The following three examples have grown to be ranked among the most valuable start-ups in the world.

Snapchat: A New Way to Communicate

Situation: Regret over a picture made public

Solution: Reggie Brown wistfully commented that he wished there was a way to make pictures disappear after they were sent or posted. As he expressed his regret over a picture he’d sent out onto social media, his friend Evan Spiegel seized upon the idea. Spiegel recruited another student Bobby Murphy to develop an App which could make posts and pictures “vanish” after a certain length of time.

Released in 2011, and named Picaboo the app was unsuccessful at first. Spiegel and Murphy kept at their work, making changes, adding features and working out bugs. It was renamed SnapChat and found an audience with young users looking to pass notes and messages that didn’t stick around.

Disruption: SnapChat has changed modern digital communication by offering personalized communication that offered an new type of privacy.

Unlike content elsewhere on social media platforms, posts and pictures via SnapChat are delivered to individual users and self-destruct in under a minute after viewing. This helps avoid later recriminations or regret and possible scrutinising rumination.

Mark Zuckerburg saw the potential growth in the app and made an early offer to buy the SnapChat for 3 billion USD but the designers decided not to sell. The app continues to grow and has now found itself valued at over 16 billion US dollars.

Airbnb: A New Way to Travel

Situation: No money to pay the rent.

Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky were struggling to afford their San Francisco apartment rent in 2007. Both were interested in entrepreneurship but had to yet hone into a focus of what to do. When a massive design conference came to the city and booked out the city’s hotel’s completely, they saw opportunity in the shortage of available accommodation for participants and other visitors.

Solution: Why not rent out air-mattresses in their own apartment, serve breakfast and charge an affordable rate for those needing accommodation? They created a website called airbedandbreakfast.com to advertise the space in their home. After they successfully rented out their floor to several guests they realized that there could be an untapped potential market. They began to pursue the business idea by tracking conferences and festival locations around the United States and, convinced local residents to ‘book’ guests in their own accommodation. Of course, legalities had to be worked out.

Disruption: Popular site Airbnb has changed the map of what we think of as possible in terms of accommodation. Rather than creating a new chain of hotels it accesses already available or underutilized spaces.

It connects travellers with individuals who rent out a wide variety of places including apartments, homes, boats, caves and even tree houses. It is now used by millions of people in countries around the world as an alternative to hotel rooms, booked out facilities, and costly accommodation. This business has been valued at a whopping 25.5b USD.

Uber: A New Way to Get from Place to Place

Situation: No taxi-cab on a winter night.

When Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp had the unfortunate experience of not being able to hail a cab in Paris in 2008, their irritation led to a brainwave.

Solution: Why not design an app that would use location services to connect passengers looking for a ride and cab drivers at the touch of a Smartphone screen. Launched in 2011 as Ubercab, it shortened its name before the year was at an end to Uber. Payment can be made via secure online banking thus allowing rides to be hard-cash free.

Disruption: Passengers no longer have to hail a cab traditionally by standing on the side of the road or arriving to a taxi rank.

A review system for both riders and drivers allows feedback to help empower safe choice and potentially weed out dangerous or reckless drivers as well as abusive customers. Fare estimates given beforehand enable more choice by letting riders know what they can expect to pay for their transport. Uber is currently the most highly valued app in the world at 51.0b USD, a truly staggering number.

Two Sides to Every Story

Change cannot happen in a vacuum. It has a ripple effect that disturbs industries, systems, governments, companies, and individuals. In each above case both positive and negative after-effects can be seen.

Positive effects include the ability to maintain privacy in the digital age due to SnapChat. Airbnb allows for the opportunity to pay less for accommodation, stay in personalized spaces, and create connection with locals while travelling. Uber offers the chance to receive a ride faster, choose your taxi driver, and know your route and price beforehand.

Negative effects consist of hackers who have successfully broken into Snapchat and released private user information. Airbnb carries the possibility of suffering damage to personal possessions, losing out on privacy, or the risk of being treated disrespectfully. Perhaps most notably we can think of the legal disputes and at times physical clashes between traditional taxi drivers resisting the changes brought by newly registered Uber drivers.

Find the Gap for Change

Change will continue to be both necessary and inevitable, regardless of the adjustment and disruptions it carries with it. Participating in positive disruption can build momentum toward creating a positive future.

Get to know what’s happening around the world and use your creativity to spot the gaps. What products or services stand between where you are and the world you want? Prestigio supports affordable smart-devices to empower you to create, expand and evolve your world!